This Week

The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken." Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. ---Genesis 2:20- 3:7

After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone'. He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith began to fight...Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angles to bring her back. "Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.'

----www.ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith/ (The Alphabet of Ben Sira)

...no weighty accusation of "original sin" brought about by the woman is found in the text. That is a later interpretation from authors with different theologies and worldviews. What the author of Genesis does reveal is that man and woman share responsibility for the alteration of their status.

----The Woman’s Bible Commentary, ed. Newsom and Ringe

"My darling Rib," said Adam, "please -
It isn't any use to tease. I don't want fruit,
I've just had lunch."
"One bite!" begged Eve. "You'll love the crunch."

---- Jeane Steig, "In The Garden"

Why does the serpent speak to the woman and not to the man? Let a female speculate. If the serpent is "more subtle" than its fellow creatures, the woman is more appealing than her husband. Throughout the myth, she is the more intelligent one, the more aggressive one, and the one with greater sensibilities...She contemplates the tree, taking into account all the possibilities. The tree is good for food; it satisfies the physical drives....Thus the woman is fully aware when she acts, her vision encompassing the gamut of life. She takes the fruit, and she eats. The initiative and the decision are hers alone. There is no consultation with her husband. She seeks neither his advice nor his permission. She acts independently.

...Visiting the Garden of Eden in the days of the Women’s Movement, we need no longer accept the traditional exegesis of Genesis 2-3. Rather than legitimating the patriarchal culture from which it comes, the myth places that culture under judgment. And thus it functions to liberate, not to enslave. This function we can recover and appropriate. The Yahwist narrative tells us who we are (creatures of equality and mutuality); it tells us who we have become (creatures of oppression); and so it opens possibilities for change, for a return to our true liberation under God. In other words, the story calls female and male to repent. ----Phyllis Trible, "Eve and Adam", in Womanspirit Rising

• What do you generally think of Eve? Is the story about her helpful, hurtful?
• How does the myth about Lilith affect the way you think about Eve? Why is there a myth about Lilith?
• Are sin and suffering Eve’s fault? Adam’s fault? The serpent’s fault? God’s fault?
• Can the story about Eve, Adam and the serpent be redeemed? Is it at all meaningful for us? How?